The Saga of Dane Wulfdin: Home

Welcome to our site dedicated to the adventures of Viking, Dane Wulfdin, the hero of This Enchanted Land and other novels to follow. Dane is 30 winters old and a powerful warrior adept with the sword, spear, trident, and battle axe. Actually, Dane has the traits of both a man and a wolf. His wolf's instincts allow him to survive in the wilds and aid him in battle when the stress of combat activates his savagery. With his man's intellect, he outwits other opponents. Odin blessed Dane with the gift of poetry, as well, and damsels find his silver tongue irresistible. His flowing red hair and beard make him a fearsome figure.

In This Enchanted Land, Wulfdin visits Wales, the only domain to totally repulse the invasions of the fierce Vikings. Dane finds out why when he and his crew attack Rhodri Mawr's shire to seek revenge on the Welsh leader for humiliating them in Anglesey. Rhodri's soldiers promptly ambush the Norsemen, and Dane becomes stranded in a foreboding realm filled with monsters, mayhem, and magic. The warrior makes a narrow escape from his human pursuers only to be bewitched by Queen Shera of Innes Castle. During his strange odyssey, he also battles a dragon, a kraken, and giants straight from one's worst nightmare.

After witnessing a harrowing Druid ceremony, Dane finally cries in frustration, "Doesn't anyone live in this enchanted land that isn't huge, evil, or bellicose?" The answer is a resounding "No!" in the first collaboration between authors William P. Robertson of the United States and Fiona Ingram of South Africa. What This Enchanted Land does provide is plenty of sorcery, seduction, and intense action. David Cox's detailed period art and Robertson's stark, image-laden poetry add another aesthetic dimension to an already riveting adventure of the Dark Ages.

Dane Wulfdin acquired his warlike nature from his Norse brethren. Known as "the slaughter wolves," the Vikings began terrorizing the Irish Sea in 793 A.D. Using their maneuverable longships, they raided Scotland's northern islands, and by 800 A.D., totally controlled the Orkneys and Shetland. From these bases the Scandinavians took the Western Isles down to Man and then started full-scale invasions of Ireland and Anglo-Saxon England. In Ireland, the whole of Munster was ravaged and the churches and sanctuaries destroyed with their books. Next, the Vikings erected forts at the Irish river mouths from which they ventured inland to plunder and kill Ireland's chieftains and champions. These forts later grew into the towns of Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Waterford, and Wexford. Britain suffered no less when the slaughter wolves conquered Strathclyde and Cumbria and established the Viking kingdom of Galloway. The Norse influence remained strong in England until the Norman conquest in the late 11th Century. Only in Wales, where such powerful warlords as Rhodri Mawr and his grandson Hywel Dda ruled, did the Vikings feel the sting of defeat.

Despite his penchant for bloodletting, Dane Wulfdin was a spiritual man who continually prayed to Odin for deliverance from the endless perils he faced. Odin was the father of gods and men. He was also the Norse god of wit, wisdom, learning, and poetry. Wulfdin's own intelligence can be linked directly to Odin. Many of Dane's fellow Vikings, however, considered Thor their favorite god. Thor was the most powerful of the gods, and his mighty hammer caused thunder and lightning. Dane's seducer, Queen Shera, considered Freya her patron. Freya was the goddess of love and beauty.

Loki was another interesting deity, for he was a trickster who questioned the order of the gods. He also spawned the Fenris Wolf, the Midgard Wyrm, and many other monsters that plagued mankind. His daughter Hel ruled the underworld. She is described as a horrible hag, half dead and half alive. The other gods lived in the city of Asgard. Also found there is the grand hall known as Valhalla where warriors slain in battle were led by the Valkyries. Dane's friend and chieftain, Snuatgar, ends up there after he is killed by Rhodri Mawr's archers.

When Dane didn't make his living plundering with Snuatgar or fighting as a mercenary, he often earned his supper as a bard, reciting verse for the kings and queens he visited in his endless travels. One of his favorite poems tells the tale of the festival of Samain, the forerunner of Halloween: